Locomotive sand-box



(No Model.)

D N I I Hm B m &A S NE W S mm 0% mm H 0 Patented Aug. 26, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

O,S\VALD H. THOMPSON AND JOHN E. KIND, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOCOMOTIVE SAN D-BO'X.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 435,372, dated August 26, 1890. Application filed December 30, 1889. Serial No. 335.444. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, OSWALD H. THOMPSON and JOHN E. KIND, citizens of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful I1nprove-' ments in Locomotive Sand-Boxes; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the.

modified form of valve applicable to our de-' vice.

The object of our invention is to produce a sand-box for locomotives by the use of which the annoyance occasioned by the packing or clogging of the sand when damp is entirely obviated and drying the sand before using is rendered unnecessary.

Among other advantages of our invention is the gradual application of the sand to the rail when required, thereby avoiding the excessive waste of sand by the use of the ordinary sand-box.

In the drawings, A is a box constructed of any suitable material and of any desirable shape, preferably cylindrical, to contain sand.

B is a screw or vertical rod'in the center of said box, provided with a series of radiallyprojecting arms a a a for the purpose of agitating the sand. The upper end of said screw is rigidly secured to the crown gearwheel 0, the lower end thereof projecting into'the exit-pipe D, which is suitably secured to or in the bottom of said box and terminating therein immediately above the valve E, which operates in a slot in said pipe, or, in case it is desirable to locate the valve in the bottom of the sand-box instead of in the exitpipe, the valve a plan of which is shown in Fig. 6 may be used.

F is a short horizontal lever, one end of which is pivoted to the outer end of the valverod G, the other end thereof being secured to the lower end of the vertical rod H, whichis journaled in the bearings 11 12, secured upon the sides of the sand-box. To the upper end of said rod H is rigidly secured the arm K, which is made of spring metal, and which is adapted to operate in the segmental slot L of the guide M, which is suitably secured upon the top of the box.

(I d d d are pins-four in numberprojecting below the under surface of the wheel 0, adapted when said wheel is rotated to come in contact with and carry said arm to the end of said slot, whereby the valve is opened. It will be observed by reference to the drawings, Figs. 2 and 4, that said slot is extended a somewhat greater distance in one direction than the other, in order to permit the pins upon the wheel to pass the outer end of said arm in case it .is necessary to rotate said wheel and screw for the purpose of feeding out heavy or damp sand. The inherent elasticity of the arm K causes it to spring back into the path of the pins d immediately after it has been moved to the extreme end of the slot Zby one of the pins 01 on the disk 0 as said disk and the rod B are revolved in order to agitate the sand in the box and feed the same out through the pipe D. To close the valve, it is only necessary to reverse the masster-gear, and the pins 01 on the under side of the disk 0 strike the rod K, which is in the path of the pins d, which operate to move said rod to the opposite end of the slot 1, and thus the flow of sand from the box is stopped. It is obvious that when fine dry sand is used instead of heavy wet sand the internal screw may be dispensed with and a plain rod used instead, and that it will be necessary only to rotate the wheel enough to throw the valve open.

N is a small beveled wheel secured upon the inner end of the long shaft 0, which is suitably secured in the bearings 19 and q, located on the top of the box and in the cab of the locomotive, respectively. In case it is desirable, the endless chain and sprocket-wheels shown in Fig. 5 may be substituted for the shaft and spur gear-wheels. The outer end of the said shaft is provided with a small spur gear-wheel P, which meshes with and receives motion from a larger spur-wheel R, suitably secured in the bearing 0". Said wheel is provided with a hand-crank s for the purpose of rotating the same.

In Fig. 6 is shown a form of valve adapted to be located in the bottom of the sand-box instead of in the exit-pipe, as shown in Fig.1.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts wherever they occur.

Having described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. The combination of a sand-box having an outlet-pipe in its bottom, a valve for controlling the egress of sand from said boxinto the pipe, and a vertical rotary shaft arranged immediately over the outlet-pipe, and having means for agitating the contents of the sandbox, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the sandbox having the outlet-pipe in its bottom, a vertical feedscrew arranged immediately over the outlet from the sand-box to the pipe and carrying the radial agitators, a valve for controlling the egress of sand from the box to the pipe, and mechanism for rotating the feed-screw continuously and opening or closing the valve at suitable intervals, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the sand-box having the outlet-pipe in its bottom, the vertical agitator arranged immediately over the outletpipe, a valve for controlling egress of sand from the box to the pipe, a vertical rock-shaft having at one end alink-connection with the valve and an arm at its opposite end, a master-gear fixed to the agitator-shaft for rotating the same, and having a projection which is adapted to strike the arm of the rock-shaft,

and means for rotating the master-gear, substantially as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we hereunto afiix our signatures this 21st day of August, A. D. 1889.

OSWALD n. THOMPSON. [1,. 8.1 JOHN E. KIND. [L. s.]

In presence of- O. 0. LEE, J. S. MCCREARY. 

